A general election is ‘more likely’ if MPs take control of the Brexit process, Stephen Barclay said this morning.
The Brexit Secretary made the comments as a warning to MPs against trying to seize control of the process away from Theresa May .
His intervention comes ahead of proposals for a series of ‘indicative votes’ in the House of Commons, to find a way forward which would be backed by a majority of MPs.
But Mr Barclay indicated the result of the votes could be ignored if it contradicted the Conservative Party’s 2017 election manifesto.
He told the Marr Show: “If an amendment goes through where Parliament takes control of the order paper then that leaves open the door to Parliament then legislating to take no-deal off the table.
(Image: BBC)
“And that is something that Brexiteers like me would see as a massive risk to Brexit because if Brexiteers and Parliament votes against the deal and also votes to take no-deal off the table then the only option is to then have European parliamentary elections.”
Mr Barclay said if the Commons takes control of the order paper and votes for a different outcome, it would “potentially collide with fundamental commitments the Government has given in their manifesto”, though he said the vote itself would “not be binding”.
Explaining the scenario, he said: “What Parliament has done is vote for a number of contradictory things so we would need to untangle that but ultimately, at its logical conclusion, the risk of a general election increases because you potentially have a situation where Parliament is instructing the executive to do something that is counter to what it was elected to do.”
Earlier, Chancellor Philip Hammond said: “One way or another Parliament is going to have the opportunity this week to decide what it is in favour of, and I hope that it will take that opportunity – if it can’t get behind the Prime Minister’s deal – to say clearly and unambiguously what it can get behind.”
But Mr Hammond said a decision had not yet been made on whether Tories would be given a free vote on the matter.
After hundreds of thousands of people descended on Parliament on Saturday demanding a so-called People’s Vote, he said a second referendum was a “perfectly coherent position” which “deserves to be considered along with the other proposals”.
